he Sabbath

The Very Best Of is a 2015 compilation CD by Black Sabbath, focusing on the Ozzy Osbourne era and the years when he returned. This is an unofficial release, put out by Olaf Thulemann Productions.

STUNNING 1980 DIO ERA BROADCAST FROM JAPAN Following Ozzy Osbourne being sacked from Black Sabbath in 1979, after the band’s Never Say Die tour, Ronnie James Dio, formerly of the band Elf, was asked to replace him. Geezer Butler also, temporarily, left the band in September 1979 for personal reasons. The new line-up returned to Criteria Studios in November to begin recording work, with Butler returning to the band in January 1980. Produced by Martin Birch, Heaven and Hell was released on 25 April 1980, to critical acclaim. The new record peaked at number nine in the United Kingdom and number 28 in the U.S., their highest-charting release since Sabotage.

Jazz Sabbath (1968) were considered to be at the forefront of the new English jazz movement. Their self-titled debut album would be released on 13 Feb 1970, but on Feb 12th founding member and pianist Milton Keanes was hospitalised with a massive heart attack; leaving him fighting for his life. The record company shelved the album and cancelled the scheduled release out of financial uncertainty of releasing a debut album from a band without its musical leader.

Way back in the mists of time, in the days when rock giants walked the earth, the name Ozzy Osbourne was synonymous with the subversive and dark. Back then, Ozzy was the singer in Black Sabbath, and they meant business. A four-piece formed from the ashes of two locally well-known groups called The Rare Breed (Ozzy and bassist Geezer Butler) and Mythology (guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward), all four founding members of the original Black Sabbath grew up within half-a-mile of each other.